Leonie Heron


Tel: +41765349161

Research positions

year what
2021 — present Postdoctoral researcher
University of Bern

Education

year what
2017 — 2020 PhD in Epidemiology, Queen’s University Belfast
Supervisors: Prof. Frank Kee, Prof. Ciaran O’Neill, Prof. Mark Tully
Thesis: The health economics of physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour: healthcare expenditure and cost-effective interventions
2016 — 2017 MSc in Epidemiology, Maastricht University
Supervisor: Dr. Colinda Simons
Thesis: Association between World Cancer Research Fund cancer prevention recommendations and incidence of colorectal cancer in the Netherlands Cohort Study
2011 — 2014 BSc in Human Biology, Queen’s University Belfast
Supervisors: Prof. Mark Tully
Dissertation: Validation of a wireless-upload pedometer and smartphone app for monitoring free-living physical activity
year what

Work

year what
2017 — 2019 Teaching assistant, Queen’s University Belfast
Teaching assistance in undergraduate histology and physiology classes
2015 — 2016 Technical associate, Genpact Pharmalink. Belfast, UK
Reviewed technical documents for a multinational pharmaceutical company

Conference abstracts

year citation
2019 Economic costs of physical inactivity in the UK
L. Heron, C. O’Neill, F. Kee, M. A. Tully
HEPA Europe: European network for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA Europe)
The direct healthcare costs of sedentary behaviour in the UK
L. Heron, C. O’Neill, F. Kee, M. A. Tully
ISBNPA: International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA)

Service

year what
2019 — 2021 Early Career Network Committee - Communications officer International Society for Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH)
2018 — 2020 Secretary of Student Chapter Belfast ISPOR

Awards

year what
2020 Richard Havelock Charles Scholarship and Gold Medal Queen’s University Belfast
Funded 6-week research trip to University of Victoria, Canada

Volunteering

year what
2014 — 2015 Erasmus+ volunteer, A Coruna, Spain
Taught English language classes to all ages in a primary school.

Skills

Programming— R (advanced), Stata (advanced)

Languages— English (native), German (conversational), Spanish (conversational)

Research dissemination

year what
2019 My paper “Direct healthcare costs of sedentary behaviour in the UK” covered in the The Guardian1, The Irish Times2, The Independent3 and more

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/26/long-sedentary-periods-are-bad-for-health-and-cost-nhs-700m-a-year↩︎

  2. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/too-much-sitting-linked-to-tens-of-thousands-of-deaths-each-year-1.3838302↩︎

  3. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/sitting-down-dangers-sedentary-deaths-nhs-700-million-a8839991.html↩︎